Healthwatch England has warned that temporary pharmacy closures are adding to the deepening crisis in the sector.
- Freedom of Information requests reveal first geographical breakdown of pharmacy closures in England
- Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board reported 1045 instances of temporary pharmacy closures, with 11 pharmacies closing permanently last year.
- Staff shortages are main cause of the disruptions, hitting older people and rural communities the hardest.
In 2022-23, there were 11,414 community pharmacies in England, including 332 in Humber and North Yorkshire.
However, data from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that Humber and North Yorkshire reported 11 pharmacies closed permanently between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023. This makes it the fourth worst in England.
During the same period, 1045 temporary closures were reported across the region resulting in 11.05 hours lost per pharmacy.
The findings come from FOI requests that the national patient champion Healthwatch England issued to all 42 Integrated Care Boards in England. It asked each ICB to provide figures for permanent and temporary closures, the duration of each temporary closure, and the reasons why each pharmacy closed.
These figures were used to calculate the average duration of pharmacy closures, their total length and how many working days this amounted to.
ICBs in rural areas recorded a higher level of temporary pharmacy closures compared to ICBs in predominantly urban areas. Additionally, ICBs with a higher proportion of people over 60 years of age recorded a higher number of hours lost per pharmacy.
In York, weekly 322 hours of pharmacy services have been lost, 227.5 due to permanent closure, 94.5 due to pharmacies reducing their opening hours. Across North Yorkshire over 370 hours were lost, 280.5 due to permanent closures and 90 due to reduced hours.
The findings come after the General Pharmaceutical Council warned that ‘the rate of closures is spiralling rapidly.’ Their data showed that deprived areas had lost proportionally more pharmacies than less deprived areas.
Healthwatch England has warned temporary closures are adding to the mounting problems in the pharmacy sector, calling into doubt the success of the Pharmacy First programme. Launched in January, the programme allows people to get care for seven common conditions to relieve pressure on GP practices, but the ongoing closures are making it harder for people to access medications and care.
Siân Balsom, Manager at Healthwatch York, reflected: “Community pharmacies play a vital role in making sure people can get the healthcare they need. They can help to reduce pressures on the NHS including local GPs and A&E services. But to make sure pharmacies can deliver a full range of services, they must be fully funded. Local GPs can play a role in this, by using the formal referral routes into Pharmacy First and Pharmacy Minor Illnesses services. When they do this, pharmacies get better paid for the work they do – this is vital if we are to make sure every community has a viable community pharmacy.”
Ian Dean, Chief Executive Officer at Community Pharmacy North Yorkshire, confirmed “Times are tough for our community pharmacies right now. Due to insufficient funding, they are facing unprecedented levels of financial and workload pressures. As the figures highlight, this is causing great instability amongst the sector and alongside a high level of temporary closures, some permanent ones too.
Despite this, pharmacies demonstrate their hardworking, resilient nature to their patients every day and strive to provide the best care they can. The introduction of Pharmacy First earlier this year has shown how much more pharmacies can do for their local communities but in order for this service to grow successfully, there needs to be a focus nationally on delivering high profile marketing campaigns to raise public awareness and locally, a greater move towards pharmacies and GPs supporting each other for mutual benefit to ensure working is collaborative, not competitive.
With the right funding in place, pharmacies could contribute even more to the healthcare needs of their local communities continuing to help alleviate pressures on GPs and A&E departments.”
Healthwatch York and Healthwatch North Yorkshire published their report on community pharmacies in February 2024. This found people had a generally positive view of their local pharmacy. Almost 60% of respondents use their pharmacy monthly, to pick up prescriptions, buy medication and other items. Pharmacies across York and North Yorkshire dispense 1.25 million items every month. Just over 50% of respondents rated their pharmacy as excellent or very good.
The briefing “Pharmacy closures in England” was published today by Healthwatch England.